"Matthews says his job 'is to be provocative and say things — you know, "That's crazy!" — the way you might at a party.'" That's from today's lengthy Howard Kurtz profile of the famed MSNBC shouty person, which, in typical Kurtz style, uses many words, anecdotes, and interviews to say precisely nothing about its subject. Matthews: says whatever he thinks! Matthews: enrages Democrats and Republicans! Matthews: is criticized by some for talking about women in odd and uncomfortable ways! Oh, there's insight. You just have to dig for it. (For example, here's Newsweek senior Washington correspondent Howard Fineman summing about everything useless about Howard Fineman in two sentences: "'Chris asks a question, he often answers his question, and then he asks you to comment on his answer to his question,' says Fineman. 'Which I'm perfectly happy to do.'") After the jump, a brief history of Chris Matthews terrifying his staff, demonstrating a dodgy relationship with the powerful women in his life, and cursing on air.

Chris has consistently gone after Hillary Clinton with vehement misogyny since the late '90s ("Hillary Clinton bugs a lot of guys, I mean, really bugs people — like maybe me on occasion. . . . She drives some of us absolutely nuts."). So it should probably surprise no one that Matthews' "strong" wife Kathleen donated the maximum allowable amount to Hillary's campaign.

Another of the "strong" women Matthews is known for surrounding himself with was Tammy Haddad, the well-liked DC producer and former managing editor of Matthews' Hardball (full disclosure: we are among those people who like her). Haddad left the show last fall, first gaining a new title at MSNBC as a whole, then leaving to network to "consult" (she's been producing video for Newsweek.com). Since Haddad left the show, Matthews, now also acting as managing editor, has become even more of a terror to his staff (and guests). Which, for a man who accuses staffers of treating him like "some rape victim" when the teleprompter screws up, is saying something.

Matthews' issues with women are no secret to anyone who watches his show, but former staffers tell us he's actually reined in his gynophobic tendencies (esp since the wild and crazy Lewinsky years). "He can't control himself when it comes to women, and it's not malicious, it's just wildly inappropriate," one told us.

And hey, here's a montage of Chris Matthews cursing on-air. Best one is the last, from Super Tuesday, where Matthews berates his staff for "putting on shit."

Hardbrawl [WP]